Well, it has been slow going since the Tupelo 30/30 Challenge in January. In fact, I have not completed one poem since January 30. But I am old enough now to know that one does not fret (too much) over such dry spells. When I was a young man, two days without a poem was "writer's block." These days, I don't worry too much about two months....and if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure I feel something beginning to percolate right now. The two pieces in this issue are from the 30/30, and I am very happy and proud to be appearing in V-V once again. Many thanks, Fire.

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Listenfor Cathy O’ReillyOn a clear, warm day this past summer, my friend Cathyhanded me a prize she’d taken from the surf.It was a vertebra,from a fish I imagine,about the size of the top of my thumb,and so smooth,so rounded by the sea,that it actually felt soft.

I was holding it this morning,rubbing the tips of my fingersall over its smoothness,when I noticed that if I held itso that I could look throughthe hole in its middleit looked just like a magnificent ear,

and I thought that this one small pieceof something larger and much more complex,now rests on dry land,a separate entity,a curio given by the ocean to Cathyand by Cathy to me,

so that now when I’m alone in this roomI will no longer worry that when I speak into the nothingnessof my frustrationmy words will go unheard.

Fire Flies …I will hatch. I am not yet fully formed and ready, but these cracks no longer scare me.-Laura M. KaminskiThis is not a camp fireit’s a beacon

Not a warningbut a signal —

I can live here tooeven if you don’t believe me.

*

Sparks from the fire flyinto blacknessascendtoward the moon

That’s not going to happen

Lots of things aren’t

*

It was our peculiar lightthat drew us togethercold light

but so what

We even glowed when we were young

*

The kindling crackles briefly

The fire blazes a momentary warmthwhich I welcome

It’s so earnestcompared to none

*

I will never see why you can’t understandthis is nothingcompared to other things